Hi all, am new to the list I have been tracing my Rickarby family, who came to Australia from Liverpool, in 1853. However, I know they were builders and merchants from Dumfries before that. They were in Liverpool from the late 1700s. One was described as a Jamaican merchant and another as a tea merchant. I know very little of the life in Dumfries about that time and wonder if anyone can point me in the right direction to find out about the merchants. I also want o find out what kind of records are available locally, I have explored and recorded most of the info on the net - bmd and census, but would like to know what can be discovered at a local level. The earliest Rickerbie I have is Jonathon b abt 1694, Dumfries. The interesting one I am trying to track is Jean Rickarby (her married name) widow of John Rickarby, Jean died in 1847 in Liverpool aged 101, and in 1941 the census said she came from Scotland. As one of her descendants had the name George Francis Hartley Hyslop Rickarby, I am hoping she might be the Hyslop connection (grandma was the Hartley) Looking forward to hearing from you regards Marg (Rickarby) O'Leary NSW, Australia